Some Nevada Republicans Signal Potential Trouble for McCain

In an early sign of potential trouble for Republican presidential candidate John McCain in Nevada, some Republicans who had voted for President George W. Bush said they had voted for his rival, Barack Obama.

“I voted for Obama because I think we need a new direction,” said Dale Greiman, a 54-year-old Las Vegas casino dealer and a Bush voter. “I just think Bush has lied to us about a lot of things.” Greiman added he was on the fence about who to vote for until watching the first debate between the two candidates. “Obama looked much more intelligent than McCain,” he said. “It was pretty clear to me after that moment.”

As Greiman started to walk to his car, he paused and added: “I may be wrong. Obama may be terrible. But we can kick him out in four years if he is.”

Another former Bush supporter, Sophia Frost, said she voted for Obama, in large part, because she thought he would do a better job restoring the economy. That issue is particularly resonant among voters here, because Las Vegas is one of the hardest hit parts of the country in the foreclosure crisis.

Las Vegas’s huge casino industry has also been hit by the national economic downturn, with many gambling houses laying off workers. “I did look carefully at McCain, and I like Sarah Palin,” said Frost, a 66-year-old casino cashier. “McCain might have made a good president, but we’ll never know.”

While Nevada has few electoral votes, the results here are being closely watched because they could serve as a bellwether for how the mountain West goes. Nevada’s polls close at 10 p.m. EST. The region had voted reliably Republican the past few presidential elections, but has shifted more Democratic in the past few years amid demographic changes, dissatisfaction with the Bush administration and other factors.

Nevada, a relatively safe red state until now, is a microcosm of the changes.

The key, Republicans said, will be turnout. “It’s really all about turnout here,” said Rick Gorka, a spokesman for the McCain campaign in Nevada. “And Republicans have been better at that.”

East Las Vegas is one of the Democratic strongholds in Clark County that Obama supporters have been targeting. But there was some McCain support as well.

Dirk May, a self-described libertarian, cast his ballot for McCain at his precinct in Cynthia W. Cunningham Elementary School. May said he was voting against Obama more than for McCain. “Honestly, Obama strikes me as a communist,” said the 42-year-old construction foreman. “It’s who he associates with. I can tolerate McCain.”

So many people have lost their jobs or are afraid of losing them in Las Vegas that many voters were hoping the next president would help them out. Ed Blasingame, for example, says he was laid off from his job as a title clerk for a local car dealership and has looked at both candidates for guidance on the economy.

But the registered Republican said he ended up not liking either of them because he thought their backgrounds were too elitist. “To be honest, neither one has insight into me,” said Blasingame, 54. He ended up voting for McCain.

Even in traditional Republican strongholds around Clark County, the Arizona senator ran into headwinds. Shawn McClelland rode on his Harley-Davidson to a fire station precinct in Henderson, Nev., to vote for Obama even though he once voted for Bush and has admired McCain’s independent spirit. “But I’m a union man, and the Republicans have been beating the unions up,” the 36-year-old iron worker said.

However, Michelle Lapton said she didn’t hesitate to cast her ballot for McCain. “He’s prolife and he doesn’t like same-sex marriage,” said the 46-year-old homemaker. “Obama scares me.”

Both voters cast ballots without having to wait in any lines. That’s in large part because roughly two-thirds of the precinct’s 1832 registered voters had cast early ballots, said Kay Kreier, election supervisor.

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